Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Sells 2,324 Shares of PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. cut its stake in PPG Industries, Inc. (NYSE:PPG) by 23.4% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 7,589 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock after selling 2,324 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in PPG Industries were worth $1,005,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of PPG Industries by 17.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 28,703,066 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $4,159,074,000 after purchasing an additional 4,222,402 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in PPG Industries by 20.1% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,197,012 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $276,576,000 after buying an additional 368,410 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of PPG Industries by 4.9% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,713,126 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $248,172,000 after buying an additional 80,710 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of PPG Industries by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,404,015 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $176,751,000 after acquiring an additional 152,719 shares during the period. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale boosted its position in shares of PPG Industries by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 1,142,195 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $162,862,000 after acquiring an additional 100,391 shares in the last quarter. 81.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at PPG Industries

In other PPG Industries news, VP Anne M. Foulkes sold 1,985 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $125.80, for a total transaction of $249,713.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 13,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,692,513.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PPG has been the subject of several research analyst reports. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of PPG Industries from $140.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Citigroup lowered their price target on PPG Industries from $145.00 to $144.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on PPG Industries from $138.00 to $136.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on PPG Industries from $155.00 to $145.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price on shares of PPG Industries from $148.00 to $144.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $149.93.

PPG Industries Price Performance

PPG stock opened at $124.41 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 1.58. PPG Industries, Inc. has a 52-week low of $118.07 and a 52-week high of $151.16. The company has a market capitalization of $28.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.72, a PEG ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $127.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.23.

PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The specialty chemicals company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.15 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $4.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.66 billion. PPG Industries had a return on equity of 23.63% and a net margin of 8.24%. PPG Industries’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that PPG Industries, Inc. will post 8.19 EPS for the current year.

PPG Industries Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 12th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.68 per share. This represents a $2.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. PPG Industries’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.11%.

About PPG Industries

PPG Industries, Inc manufactures and distributes paints, coatings, and specialty materials in the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It operates through two segments, Performance Coatings and Industrial Coatings. The Performance Coatings segment offers coatings, solvents, adhesives, sealants, sundries, and software for automotive and commercial transport/fleet repair and refurbishing, light industrial coatings, and specialty coatings for signs; wood stains; paints, thermoplastics, pavement marking products, and other advanced technologies for pavement marking for government, commercial infrastructure, painting, and maintenance contractors; and coatings, sealants, transparencies, transparent armor, adhesives, engineered materials, and packaging and chemical management services for commercial, military, regional jet, and general aviation aircraft.